Adri, Utaru Plainswalker Scythe
Adri and Jupi are Utaru Plainswalkers introduced to the party by Grethe party in entry 120. The duo are Narrator NPCs, leveling with the party, serving as exposition foils and combat helpers as necessary. Adri is suited for a typical “tank” role, getting and holding aggressor attention, leaving everyone else free to do what needs to be done.
Appearance: A tall woman sporting gold braids dyed a bright crimson below her ears, with light rose eye makeup to match. Her age is deceptive — she talks and moves with the energy of someone in their twenties, but has stories and wisdom of someone decades older than that. She sports heavy armor, with well-worn and overlapping hexagonal machine plates joined by blue cable, each painted a bright yellow or gold. Adri leans against a curved staff which is several heads taller than her. Perceptive fighters would notice the staff is a scythe, with a blade as long as an arm retracted against the wood and lightly obscured by twisting, decorative grasses. She also carries a bow but, unlike most Plainswalkers, almost never uses it.
Presentation: Good natured and outgoing, with a broad smile and a “big sister” attitude: she plays hard and fights harder, fiercely protective of her friends and charges. Adri loves meeting new people and hearing their stories, never shrinking from telling epic tales of nail-biting combat or young love. She also has an impish side which kicks in when she’s not under the mantle of duty, and is usually the first to agree to crazy plans which don’t endanger anyone but herself. Jupi and Adri are in a relationship, and once comfortable with those around them, they show affection via showing off to each other, gentle taunts, and ribbing.
Motivations: As fun as Adri can be, she takes the title of Scythe seriously, snapping into that persona in a heartbeat. She has a strong sense of justice, right, and wrong, and when in Plainsong, her big-sister protective nature kicks in for the entire Utaru people. While she does not put her energy into thinking about the philosophical implications of the Cycle, she has an intuitive spiritual grasp of one of its simpler tenets: leave every person better than you found them.